Wheeling register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1878-1935, 1887-03-04
MURDER OF O'NEIL.
THE TESTIMONY GIVEN BEFORE CORONER
SCHULTZ, YESTERDAY,
Shows That the Killing Was Deliberate, Premsdi-
lated and Embellishments OF
Eye Witnesses.

HteQ anu DEuhl- O@bomoho VI
Eye Witnesses.
The inquest upon the body Of William
O'Neil, whose tragic death at the hands OF
Elmer Clark was chronicled in yesterdays
REGISTER, was held at the County Intirm-
airy yesterday afternoon, by Coroner
Schultze. At the conclusion of the hesr-
ing, the remains were placed in a hearse
and removed to this city, where they were
conveyed to the residence of Mrs. O'Neil,
No. 1876 Eighteenth street. The funeral
will take place Saturday, the interment
being at Mt. Calvary cemetery.
The inquest was held in the presence of
ajury of twelve men, summoned bySpecial
Constable Noah Zane. They were Messrs.
VIM. Butler, Frank Higgs, Henry HELEN
bine, William Askew, John G. Roab,
James Bedillion, August Pestinger, John
Halstead, A. G. Ryan, Joseph Rekus, j..
C. McClurdy and Andrew Kirk. The ex-
animation was conducted by Prosecuting
Attorney Jordan. Following are the main
features of the testimony:
WILLIAM THoRNBURG.
Gam a constable in Triadelphia Dis
trict. Yesterday l arrested Elmer Clark
as he was standing in Frank Martins door.
He said: Il suppose / am the man you
want l said he was. l searched him.
He had no revolver. ! picked up a revolt
~ver-loaded, and no cartridges were out Of
it-lying beside ONeil. Clark said that
he was the man who did the shooting. He
said he did it in self defense. | do not
know where the revolver is with which
Clark did the shooting. The revolver |
picked up beside o'Neil l suppose belong
ed to him.
JAMES CONFER.
IL was standing on the depot platform.
O'Neil wa going up the railroad. He went
on up, and turned off down towards Cham
bers' row. In "a few moments he came
back up on the railroad, and started up
the track again. He met Mr.. Martin, and
they talked together for some time, and
both came down the railroad together.
They stopped somewhere in front of the
row, and stood there a little bit. Martin
handed O'Neil his pick handles, and Mar
tin then went down toward the row. lie
was gone but q short time, when he came
back. He took his pick handles and they
stood there for some time. The last | saw
of Martin he was walking toward his
house. O'Neil started down the railroad.
lie came down about half way between
where he had been talking with Martin
and the tipple. / saw two small
boys come up from the direction
OF the row, and O'Neil stopped
and commenced to lay it OFF with his arm.
| supposed that he was talking, Judging
from his motions. By that time the train
came along and stopped, and when it began
to move out l saw Clark move toward
O'Neil. The mex thing | heard 4 shot
fired and saw the smoke. About that time
the rear end of the train had Just passed.
1 saw O'Neil, when the shot was fired,
whirl around, and / think he
was making an effort to
get in behind the train. Then
the second shot was fired. Then O'Nell
fell, and by that time Clark was right on
the Young man and fired again. Then he
fired the fourth shot. Clark then started
ND the railroad. As far as | know and
could see, Clark did the shooting"
FRANK MARTIN.
About half-past four o'clock, when l
came out of the bank, | went to Kimmins'
Tor p~iCkhandleS. On the track a man anne
up and asked me if lived in the row, and
| told him ! did not, aud nOinted to where
| did live. He said he had been down
there to get something 10 eat, aud they
had told him To go away. | told him 10 90
to the hotel and he could get something
to eat. lie said he had been
there. BY that time we had
got in front of the row. ! stopped. lie asked
me if | knew him, and | said that did
not. lie said his name was O'Neil-
''Pudger1 or something like that-and
asked me ii my name was Clark, and told
him no. lie said Clark'S wife had q pic
turc OF his and he wanted TO get it. lie
asked me if would 20 down and ask them
to give it to him. did not see any one At
Clark's, so | went to Mrs. HanSon's-
Clark'S wite's mother. She said that she
had it, hut that she had torn ii up. | went
back and told O'Neil what Mrs. Hanson
had said. lie then asked me if ! would
90 and take IL drink with him. | said |
did not care about il, and that / wanted to
put the handles in the picks. | saw no
more of O'Neil till | saw him down by
the old switch, lying there after
he had been shot. heard no
shots fired. | guess Clark was in u
house when | was talking 10 O'Neil. |
saw him sitting there ~ | passed the win
dow did not see Clark 90 ont of the
house. / have u Smith x WessOn revolver;
keep it in "a bureau drawer. 1t was not
there last night; it is not there now. | do
not know what became of it. ] looked Tor
it last night. Mrs. Clark did not hand
me anything, or otter me anything. Did
not hear Mrs. Clark say here and do
not know of any one checking her. The
last | saw of the revolver IA about three
weeks ago. At that time | loaded il, ut
the pOstotiicc. There were i've chambers
in 1t. When Clark came back after the
shooting | met him in the yard. He said
nothing to me. The noise made by the
train prevented my hearing the shooting.
| expect Clark knew | had a revolver.
He lived at my house iOr something like n
month. My wife said Clark did not get
my revolver rs far as she saw or knew
". ?. CHAMBERS.
About 8 o'clock yesterday afternoon,
while | was standing 1T Woods store, |
heard the report of a pistol. / turned
around, and by that time heard the second
report. Then | saw O'Neil reel and fall,
and another man stand over him and shoot
two or three times more. said: Woods,
for Gods sake, there's a man getting
shot then ran up the railroad, and saw
Clark make u motion as though to pick up
another revolver aud strike the man that
vas shot. Then he threw it at him and
turned and walked about twenty feet and
opeued his left hand pocket d If to put
something in it. lie then ran up the road
and into Martins house. By this time l
WAS at the scene. Constable Thornburg
came Up, and ! said: will, go and arrest
him. He asked where he was, and | said
in Frank Martins house. lie then Segt
mn ,rd arraStpd the man and brOuyht him